- Joined
- Jan 16, 2022
Hello,
I am not an experienced figure skater and am not very familiar with the culture. We took my son ice skating a year ago, and he attempted to copy the figure skaters despite his lack of experience on skates. We signed him up for the next LTS session with hockey skates. My son informed us of the error we made with regard to our skate choice. One day, not long after, I showed him a video of pairs skating and was informed that that’s what he wants to do.
Fast forward almost a year, my 7 year-old son still wants to do pairs skating, and often talks about when he can, “get a girl.” I keep telling him that he needs to be a strong skater on his own so that a girl will choose him. I don’t get into the ratio of females vs. males in skating, because I’d rather have him work at skating instead of thinking he can just, “get a girl.” I also tell him he has to be a bit older.
I’m not pushing him into anything, but I am trying to do what I can to help. He’s in Basic 6 now and also has a couple of private coaching sessions a week. I put him in ballet once a week, because I figure that he’d better figure out what to do with a girl if he got one. While we primarily have him at two rinks now, I’m looking into the possibility of branching out to one of the other rinks once he passes Basic 6, because I think they may have a more robust skating program.
Some of the struggles we have:
1. While, we live in a large metropolitan area with access to several rinks, we do not live somewhere that is known for skating. Our home rink is a very small rink (one sheet). Our second rink stops LTS at Freeskate 1 because they feel that everyone is just going to get a private coach after that.
2. It seems that a lot of the instructors at our rinks aren’t skating instructors for their primary jobs, and therefore have a lot going on.
3. At our home rink, at Basic 6, I’m guessing my son is the highest level male at our rink at 7 years of age. He was not asked to do the last performance they had, but there were no other male skaters either. Maybe our rink just doesn’t know what to do with figure skating boys?
4. My son has an over abundance of energy. The kind of overabundance that makes sense to throw a pair of hockey skates on him and watch him crash around the ice. It does not make sense to put him in a pair of figure skates and expect that he will actually pay attention if he’s not interested. Fortunately, he loves figure skating and has a natural aptitude for it.
5. While we have ice dancing in our area, none of the rinks does pairs skating from what I can tell.
I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice about boys. Also, what do I look for with regard to the best home rink for my son? I do like the rinks we skate at, and I’ve liked all of the people who have coached him, so it’s not about them. It’s just a matter of finding the right all around fit.
Are there any groups for parents with sons who figure skate?
I am not an experienced figure skater and am not very familiar with the culture. We took my son ice skating a year ago, and he attempted to copy the figure skaters despite his lack of experience on skates. We signed him up for the next LTS session with hockey skates. My son informed us of the error we made with regard to our skate choice. One day, not long after, I showed him a video of pairs skating and was informed that that’s what he wants to do.
Fast forward almost a year, my 7 year-old son still wants to do pairs skating, and often talks about when he can, “get a girl.” I keep telling him that he needs to be a strong skater on his own so that a girl will choose him. I don’t get into the ratio of females vs. males in skating, because I’d rather have him work at skating instead of thinking he can just, “get a girl.” I also tell him he has to be a bit older.
I’m not pushing him into anything, but I am trying to do what I can to help. He’s in Basic 6 now and also has a couple of private coaching sessions a week. I put him in ballet once a week, because I figure that he’d better figure out what to do with a girl if he got one. While we primarily have him at two rinks now, I’m looking into the possibility of branching out to one of the other rinks once he passes Basic 6, because I think they may have a more robust skating program.
Some of the struggles we have:
1. While, we live in a large metropolitan area with access to several rinks, we do not live somewhere that is known for skating. Our home rink is a very small rink (one sheet). Our second rink stops LTS at Freeskate 1 because they feel that everyone is just going to get a private coach after that.
2. It seems that a lot of the instructors at our rinks aren’t skating instructors for their primary jobs, and therefore have a lot going on.
3. At our home rink, at Basic 6, I’m guessing my son is the highest level male at our rink at 7 years of age. He was not asked to do the last performance they had, but there were no other male skaters either. Maybe our rink just doesn’t know what to do with figure skating boys?
4. My son has an over abundance of energy. The kind of overabundance that makes sense to throw a pair of hockey skates on him and watch him crash around the ice. It does not make sense to put him in a pair of figure skates and expect that he will actually pay attention if he’s not interested. Fortunately, he loves figure skating and has a natural aptitude for it.
5. While we have ice dancing in our area, none of the rinks does pairs skating from what I can tell.
I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice about boys. Also, what do I look for with regard to the best home rink for my son? I do like the rinks we skate at, and I’ve liked all of the people who have coached him, so it’s not about them. It’s just a matter of finding the right all around fit.
Are there any groups for parents with sons who figure skate?